ABSTRACT
My theoretical engagement with the theory of conflict began early on, as part of my PhD dissertation (Varoufakis, 1986) which involved delving into microe-conometric tests of simple optimisation models of industrial action: of strikes, lock-outs, goslows etc. Those models (e.g. Ashenfelter and Johnson, 1969) assumed that at least one of the two sides of the employer-trades union negotiation was irrational (guess which!), ‘rational’ party (whose decisions were, of course, instrumentally rational).
